


JamesandSirius and Beer

by Luspiel



Series: Harry Potter and Jazz [11]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Albus Dumbledore Bashing, Alcohol, Attempt at Humor, F/M, First War with Voldemort, Marauders, Marauders Era (Harry Potter), Marauders Friendship (Harry Potter), Marriage, Minor Character Death, POV Sirius Black, Post-Hogwarts, Sirius Black & James Potter Friendship, just a bit
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-15
Updated: 2020-08-15
Packaged: 2021-03-05 22:40:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,572
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25503028
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Luspiel/pseuds/Luspiel
Summary: A conversation between two brothers on what’s been haunting them.
Relationships: James Potter/Lily Evans Potter, Sirius Black & James Potter, Sirius Black & Remus Lupin & Peter Pettigrew & James Potter
Series: Harry Potter and Jazz [11]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1591132
Kudos: 7





	JamesandSirius and Beer

It had hardly been five minutes since Remus left to pick up the takeout and there Prongs was looking all contemplative on my couch. One might argue that it was in fact silent in the flat, but after spending 7 years living with the other I knew it was about as quiet as a rocket taking off in James’s thoughts. It was an uncomfortable silence that meant something was brewing within, eating at him, utterly destroying his upstanding light-wizard insides. James had fought hard for Indian style, so if he was having second thoughts on the food I would quite literally deck him. 

“What are you on about now, James?” I asked from the kitchen.

“I’m not even speaking, Sirius, leave me alone.”

Wow, it must be bad then. I dug around in the fridge for a minute before unearthing two muggle beers from behind a week old pot of chilli. I had asked Remus if he wanted chilli with his hotdogs and he had said yes, then surprise, surprise it’s still here. I slammed the fridge letting my anger about _that_ wash away. Taking four big steps I flopped down on the couch next to Prongs to wait for the arrival of Pete and the return of Moony. I wordlessly handed off the second beer at which James grimaced at. How dare he grimace at my good, cheap muggle beer!

“Padfoot, I’m worried about your eating habits,” James chuckled even as he uncapped the drink with a bottle opener.

“That makes two of us.” I let the cold, stale beer flood down my throat not bothering to really taste it, “So, what’s really the matter?”

The deer of a man fiddled absently with one of Remus’s many throw pillows like a ninny, “Honestly?”

“As solemn as you could possibly get it,” I encouraged, ever the good friend. 

Jamie took a few breaths that sounded suspiciously like sighs. Wait, was that? With the trained eyes of a Hit Wizard in training, I zeroed in on James’s right hand which was coincidentally fiddling with his wedding band. Oh shi—

“Why are you looking at me like that?” 

“You’re not thinking about calling off the wedding are you!” I jumped up in righteous indignation, “You’ve been chasing after Lily for years. I already bought your wedding gift, so tough luck!”

“Sirius—I….it’s not that I want to call off the wedding. It’s just—urgh—this is so stupid, but do you think Lily and I jumped into this too quickly?”

I stopped thrashing Prongs’s dumb oblong head with a pillow for a moment, “What?”

Another whimsical sigh, “Do you think Lily and I are rushing?” He repeated it slower this time like I was some dumb ox.

I graciously humoured him, “Rushing? Why Prongs I would never look marriage in the eye on a good day, but you—you threatened it in a back alley.”

“Be focused, Sirius,” he groaned.

Well, if he wanted my honest opinion that’s exactly what he was going to get. I took a gulp of my beer and looked the T.V. dead in the eye, “Yes.”

It was like I had confirmed to him that the sky was indeed blue. James must have had already preemptively tore himself apart over this because I swear the man was halfway unhinged. He slumped dejectedly back into his chair and nursed his drink affectionately. 

“Merlin, I knew it. We should’ve waited. Why didn’t we wait?”

“Don’t get your knickers in a twist, Jamsie,” I scoffed, “You said it yourself, there might not be anything to wait for.”

He tussled his hair with his hand in a way that would soon become his fiancée’s grievance, “I know, but….So far we’ve been pretty good at not letting this war run our lives, haven’t we? Maybe I just gave in to the fear.”

I punched my fist into James’s shoulder in a manner I hoped was reassuring, “Hey, your concerns are valid, and there really might not be a future for any of us. As scary as that sounds, I don’t blame you for ‘rushing.’ You’re no less brave for thinking about the future and what you want out of it. In fact, you’re probably braver than most considering that you’re actually facing the facts of this war.”

“I know! I just—“

“—Alright then! You know, so that’s it. Prongs, do you want to marry Lily?”

“God, yes!”

“And she wants to marry you otherwise she wouldn’t have said yes, and you’d be sitting here crying your eyes out instead of whinging. If you want to marry the woman, then do so. Merlin knows, you’ve been waiting for 4 and a half years.” 

James takes a turn at staring at our non-magical moving picture box, “Thanks, Sirius.”

I grunt nonchalantly before taking another drink, “My punk rock image is really taking a dive here.”

“Weren’t you the one who claimed ABBA was ‘punk-rock’?”

“And what of it?” I griped right back.

And the little git had the gall to smile around his beer, “nothing.”

The lovestruck fool finally seemed to calm down enough to take in my sagely advice. The quiet was peaceful and lasted long enough for me to finish my beer, remember there was another case under the sink, and procure new drinking material. It got to the point where I actually thought I understood what Moony meant whenever he cheered over “blessed silence at last.” Of course this thought was quickly interrupted by intrusive thoughts such as what would it be like to smash the T.V. and stick your hand in the hole of glass. The thought had come from Moony telling me that the T.V. box was partly hollow, and here it was again making a guest reappearance. Luckily, I didn’t have to spend long shooing away this thought. 

“Anything eating at you biker boy?” James nagged.

“If we’re being serious here….”

“As solemn as it possibly gets,” he vowed.

“Reggie is graduating this year, and with him a fresh crop of baby Death Eaters. Not just Slytherins either, the fear has penetrated deep this time. Why hasn’t this been cracked down on? You know it; I know it, and yet Dumbledore does nothing because he’s too busy playing bloody high-stakes chess with Voldemort.”

James didn’t even raise an eyebrow at my seething, “Do you have questions or second thoughts?”

“Questions,” I answered resolutely, “I’m an auror, I know Dumbledore doesn’t run the whole show, but Hogwarts is their prime recruitment site. It’s like a breeding ground for teenage soldiers whichever side you look at.”

“That’s dark, Sirius.”

“Yeah, well....” I trailed off somewhere between downing my second beer and reaching for my third. 

“Are we just going to go back and forth with unloading or….?”

I scoffed at James’s easy topic shift, “You’re being mighty blasé about all this.”

He shook his head, “Not blasé, I just feel safe.”

I sat back, relatively placated and newly perplexed, “Oh….okay, sure then.”

James took his time wrapping his head around just what he wanted to talk about. He looked as if he was sorting through trauma, and I guess he was, considering that he stated that he felt safe. Safe enough to finally process just what he might’ve seen or heard or done. Safe enough to feel again.

“There was this little muggle girl in Lancashire,” he finally began. 

“That’s way out of your unit’s jurisdiction.”

He nodded, “But we were there, as always.” Prongs stared down into his near empty beer bottle as if within it lay the answers to all his questions. “She couldn’t have been more than 7 or 8 and her neck—her neck was snapped,” his voice broke but picked back up again unbeaten, “And I would’ve thought it a common crime scene if the dark mark hadn’t been floating above the house. I—I don’t know if that means that murderers and serial killers are using the Death Eaters as a cover….”

“Hell, Prongs! Scare me why don’t you!" 

“....Or if the Death Eaters have truly gotten that ruthless.”

There was that silence again, but this time it buzzed with questions of unease. Both theories were disgusting to even contemplate. Just what exactly was the world coming to?

“We’re here! Oh crap, what happened to you lot?” Peter chimed from the doorway.

Myself and James turned to look at our unassuming friends who had no idea what had just been discussed. We wordlessly decided to keep it that way.

“Peter, in 4th year I started what illegal hobby?” James asked.

“A bubotuber pus dispensing ring,” he fired off while setting out the plates.

“Moony,” I started, “What did I get you for your 17th birthday?”

Remus calmly unloaded the takeout, “A brown suit with elbow patches. You said it matched my aesthetic.”

“I’ll do the question for you two now, and it has to be answered in synch,” Wormtail said imaginatively. 

“That’s not fair,” I voiced before swinging myself over the couch.

“Too bad. What was the name of your first girlfriend?”

“Kelly Hapsburg.”

James turned slowly to look at me who had just spoke in unison with him. Peter and Remus were collectively giggling. It was anybody's guess how long they had been holding onto that one for.

“That skank,” I mused. 

“Those skanks,” Prongs said nodding towards our idiotic friends. 

And right then, I couldn’t have agreed more.

**Author's Note:**

> I've had this in the reserve for when I miss an update. The amount of faith past me has in future me is astonishing.


End file.
